A court in India has asked Coca Cola and Pepsi to respond to charges that their drinks contain harmful chemicals and pesticides. The Supreme Court order was in response to a public interest petition by a NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigations.
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Pepsi and Coke Under Fire AgainAn Indian NGO says samples of Coca-Cola and Pepsi products are showing even worse levels of pesticides than in a previous study. The Centre for Science and Environment said their investigations revealed that the drinks contain harmful residues... [send green star] [
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I once read that the police use coke to clean blood of the roads after accidents...also that if you pour coke into a breakfast bowl and then place a steak in it after 3 days the steak will totally dissolve..bones and all
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many insurance companies now charge a smokers surcharge or will not insure smokers at all. i worked at a hospital where smokers paid 10% more for their insurance.

genetic and natural related disease is very small percentage of health care users. routine examines and labs related to old age again are very minute amt of health care.

liver disease due to alcohol, lung disease not only from cigerette smoking but carbon monoxide inhalation from car exhaust and factories, obesity related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes (which leads to blindness, dialysis from renal failure, and skin ulcers that take months to heal) and most diabetes now days is type2 which is related to diet, there is eveidence also of many immune disorders and central nervous system diseases being linked to what we consume and inhale. dementia being one of them (alzheimers is genetic, dementia which is not the same- can be linked to neurotoxins and we are seeing an alarming increase in percentage of people devolping early onset of dementia).

so yes people do have a right to eat, drink, and smoke. but i suggest you take a tour through your local hospital and see the physical and mental devastation of some of those decisions then make a choice on what you want in your body. maybe getting a visual picture what you have to look forward to will be a wake up call.and now by poisioning our environment they are taking away our choice not to ingest harmful toxins. no more fair then gov telling you what to eat or not eat.

POP has got to be THE most worst thing for the teeth!January 07, 2006 7:56 PM

And I agree with Freediver - about how feeding children pop and crap will affect their lives in a bad way. They will not only become addicted, but they will have childhood memories of having a good 'ol time swigging pops and eating pop tarts - and will pass these bad habits onto their own children.
Can you say diabetes - obesity - addiction? It is our resposibility as adults to teach the younger generation a more healthy way to live.
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Coca Cola deserves to lose all their business for what happened with Diet Coke--they knew it could cause brain tumors when they put it on the market, and it has done that. It also exacerbates diabetes, and can give a person symptoms of CFS, MS, or fibromyalgia.

As for Coke Classic, well, it's probably one of the biggest contributors to obesity in the US. We feed kids coke, pizza, and candy, and wonder why they're more obese now, than they were back when they only ate those things on someone's birthday.

I'm boycotting. What brands of water do they sell? I won't buy those either, until this abuse of the environment is addressed.

NYU boycotts Coke over union practicesDecember 13, 2005 - New York University announced Thursday it would move ahead with its previously announced ban on Coca-Cola products in response to the company’s inability to comply with requests made by the NYU Senate.

Coca-Cola Contracts Fizzle at University of MichiganJanuary 3, 2006 ( ENS ) - In a victory for student environmental and human rights activists, the University of Michigan has suspended its business relationship with the Coca-Cola company because of its practices in India and Colombia.

COCA-COLA has denounced what it calls a politically motivated boycott of its products by some US and European universities, denying it conspired with paramilitaries to harass workers in Colombia.

In a statement posted on the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke website, Correa decried what he called "a gruesome cycle of murder, kidnappings and torture'" of the union's leaders, whom he said are "involved in daily life and death struggles at Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia".

It was originally sold as a syrup and did contain cocaine. The addition of carbonated water is what drove its popularity. I'd bet the original was mighty tasty and not all so much any more alluring than it is now. The Pure Food and Drug Act as well as the other drug laws- like the Patriot act in that they didn't really realize what they were doing- was responsible. Coca-Cola wished to avoid trouble in the crackdown on 'snake-oil'. Many didn't realize marijuana {or cannabis} and hemp were the same plant. One of the main real reasons was an anti-competition move as hemp was about to become much cheaper to produce. Other reasons, given, were about 'big black men' seducing 'fragile, succeptible white women' and similar reasons. It is no coincidence that prohibition ended just prior and it was really a test case for the Gun Laws. It was, also, an effort to not lose the power the government had found.

Red Rock Premium from Atlanta {really Austell} is excellent, made with cane sugar rather than corn syrup, and every purchase helps the Chattahooga. Make sure you get the 'Premium', however.

'Premium Cola from Atlanta, the
preferred cola of the late Babe Ruth. Since 1885, it is one year older
than Coca-Cola. Made with 100% pure cane sugar. The taste can not be
beat. New taste sensation! Sold as a single collector's bottle.'

{Four packs at Kroger's and other fine stores.}

'Just the right bite'

They have a good ginger ale, too, that is so spicy it seems like a 'Jamaican ginger beer'.

The Ganges issue is even more disturbing than the one faced by people here but goes to show the unrelenting mischeif many multinational companies must be getting up to at the expense of the locals all over the world. Here is a link on Coke's attempts to sell off Central Coast resident's precious remaning drinking water reserves during the worst ever recorded drought. Thanks John for your interest. http://www.gosford.nsw.gov.au/community/media/coca_cola.html

Yes, it was cocaine in Coke. See, this guy created a headache remedy when cocaine, morphine, etc. were considered mild-just read the beginning of The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-and the guy's assistant accidentally poured some carbonated water into the mix. They tasted it, liked it, marketed it. Long time ago, though. Not like they're sneaking it in now.

'Course, you can get high on Coca Cola pretty easily....

Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard for me to give up. I normally drink root beer when I go out and have pop anyway.

one other thing -- I have up soda entirely january 2003. granted it was hard to do, but I sleep so much better now. it used to take me an hour plus to fall asleep at night due to all the soda I was consuming so I could stay awake and study/attend class etc..... but it got to be too much, so I stopped drinking it for a bit to cleanse my system of the caffeine and haven't gone back. it took nearly six months for me to notice that I was finally able to sleep better, and I used to have horrific nightmares about drinking dr pepper (former favourite soda), but those are mostly passed now.
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did you all hear about the four colubian students who were kidnapped after attending a rally concerning coke's human rights violations?

it went out over the killercoke listserve last week.

also, rutgers university decided not to renew it's exclusive beverage contract with coke after a year of deliberation. *happy dance* they're going with pepsi instead.... better, but not by much as there are issues with pepsi's practices. just not as many, nor are they as well known. [send green star] [
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i once heard in an interview with Bill Moyers, Vendana Shiva said that while the Ganges is a sacred River in India and the symbol of life, many women are now flinging themselves to their death in her waters because of their depression over the fact that coca-cola now owns the rights to the water of the Ganges.

On the Central Coast near Sydney Aus. Coke has aquired the rights to pump springwater and is now fighting our governemt in the land and environment court to rapidly expand its operation and triple it's daily extraction capacity. This is happening whilst you aren't allowed to water your vege garden in this area and Coke is sucking our water tables dry. I have also heard allegations Coke puts toxic waste in the mix to get rid of it for other industry. Coke Sucks and I don't drink it !!!
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do you know what is the situation in Kerala right now? do local people need help defending their rights for drinking water and taking care of their land from corporate interests? Coca-Cola may cause severe imbalances in bacterial flora of intestines, and through that mechanism many different health problems that we are vaguely aware of. As you know we can brush or rinse teeth after drinking coke but the intestines is not that easy to be rinsed of that stuff.
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Vendana Shiva led the fight against Coca Cola recently. In Kerala India, Coca Cola
was using up public water to make it's products, leading to water shortage
in Kerala's villages and forcing women to walk 15 miles, on average, to get
water. The same women could get this water from their backyard wells, before.

The women of the village protested over a year, sitting day-in and day-out
outside Coca Coca gates, but nothing was done by any local authorities or
law enforcement to help them. When Shiva joined them she helped them to lodge
a complaint against Local and National authorities and filed a case in the
Indian High Court. To understand the level of bureaucracy and corruption they
had to fight, Shiva mentioned that during the time of their case, they had
learned that the Indian President, Vajpayee, had been offered Rupees 300 million
in bribes from Coca Cola to oppose this lawsuit. By that time however the
story of the women had spread all over the world, and the media publicity
had helped to loosen the grip that Coca Cola had on the politicians. Shiva
and the people of Kerala won the lawsuit, opening up much more debate in the
Indian parliament about multinational corporations in India.

Shiva says the fight is not over. Coca Cola has a new agenda. They want
to sell water to the whole world. They are going to create the same problem
of usurping public water away from locals, leading to rising cost of public
water. It's her goal to see that this company closes down.
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Of course - you shouldn't get your kids taking so much caffeine Mike. Not that I wan't to infringe on your freedom to get your kids hooked on caffeine, but it's still not a good idea.

One more thing - what you eat becomes a habit and what you eat when you are young affects how you respond to food later in life. So if you feed your kids good natural food they may eat like that forever because they prefer the taste. But if you feed them junk you may be cursing them for life.

Well, it's not just about what it does to you. Yes, it did have cocaine in it, and some years ago, they made a version without cocaine and everyone hated it, so they went back to the original recipe.

Yes, it has loads of sugar in it, and the caffeine is the addictive ingredient. I gave up caffeine about 6 months ago, going cold turkey. It was worse than giving up smoking! I had a thumping headache for 3 days and felt pretty ropey for about a fortnight.

Both Tea and coffee have caffeine in them, and the only way to cut down and go on drinking hot drinks is to try herbal teas. Redbush (Rooibosch) tea has no caffeine, so it doesn't have to be decaffeinated.

Coca Cola pollutes the water and the soil all around the manufacturing plant for several miles, and the company doesn't care at all. That is why we should boycott it. If we don't buy it, they will have to take notice.

Parenst should be less concerned with what their kids are eating and more concerned about how much time they spend sitting in front of the television and playing video games...... It doesnt matter what you eat if you get out and do something...
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The American Academy of Pediatrics has been warning the public for the last several years that the lifestyle changes of children have contributed to a national epidemic of obesity. Fast food, school lunches, vending machines, inability to reach a neighborhood park, inaccessibility of athletic programs, and more sedentary family activities are all contributing factors.

I only drink Mountain Dew.... I drink it with my donuts in the morning and with dinner... Its really all I drink. No milk )except with cereal on a rare ocaission), No water, No juice and under no cricumstances will I drink coffee or tea... Tea has got to be the nastiest stuff I have ever tasted...
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better yet, throw some tea bags into a gallon of water and let that stand in the fridge for a day... [send green star] [
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Well I've changed my dietApril 18, 2005 4:54 PM

significantly over the past few years. I don't drink Coke on a regular basis (maybe once or twice a year, now), and I can't stand the taste of Pepsi - never did, actually - so I don't go anywhere near the stuff. As for fast food, MacDonalds, KFC, and most of the other fast food places are out, too. Not because of their practices - which I didn't know about until I started reading these threads - but because of the sheer fat content, which is through the roof and over the top.

But, I'd like to say something about obesity, if I might, because I don't feel it's been fairly examined.

Not every obese person is that way due to lifestyle choices. For some people, obesity has more to do with a faulty thyroid, or some other medical condition. So, to appear to confine obesity to being due only to a lifestyle choice is unfair to those who work hard to watch what they eat... People like me, for instance...

I doubt it. Obesity is the biggest new health problem facing the west, with the US leading the way. I think it's about to overtake cancer and become the leading cause of death in the US.

I am not suggesting we outlaw anything. I am suggesting we exercise more restraint as consumers. We should find out what companies act in a way that conflicts with our moral standards and boycott them. It's a shame that only the animal liberation groups are doing this effectively. We should all be doing it. Also, once food and lack of exercise start catching up with you, stop eating the really bad stuff - at least on a regular basis.

Everyone know smoking is bad for you. Yet millions of people CHOOSE to do it... It says right on the pack its bad for you... And I think everyone knows that being fat is bad for you as well...And again people CHOOSE to be that way. Or they atleast CHOOSE the lifestyle that leads to it..
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This isn't really about infringing people's freedom of choice, it is about empowering it.

Amen, Free! Testify!

Mike, you're partly right about someone dying earlier potentially costing the healthcaer system less, but it would really depend how they die early. Younger people with severe medical problems, aka Terri Schiavo, will have more effort and money expended on their behalf, which will cost more than a normal death from an otherwise healthy old age.

Unfortunately, it is not true that everyone knows the negative effects of smoking, soda, etc. The poor are less likely to be educated on basic nutrition, or to be able to access healthier choices. Ultimately, consumers can't be prevented from harming themselves, but education and (dis)incentives do not compromise personal freedom. They're guides, not absolutes.

Everyone has health problems when they get older... The longer you live the more checkups you will recieve and the more treatments you will recieve and the more money you will use... I just saw a study on this very thing not long ago. I will try to find it for you.... But what do you suggest? We outlaw anything thats bad for you? Driving a car is bad for you. Many more people dies in car wrecks than die from obesity.... Should we outlaw cars? It does cost a lot of money when people end up in the hospital..

Healthy people can live to a ripe old age, working well past the usual retirement age and die in their sleep of natural causes. It is more often the people who die from self inflicted medical problems (especially obesity) that drag up health care costs.
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You argument about health care costs dont hold water. Its the same argumnet used against smokers.. Isnt it true that we all know smoking and fatty foods and cola is bad for us? Isnt it also true that if you smoke eat the fatty foods and drink alot of cola that you will die at an earlier age? Then isnt it tue once again that if you die at an earlier age you will actually take LESS money form the healthcare system than someone that lives to be much older?
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Jeffrey is a radical free market idealist, so there's not much value in discussing the finer points of government intervention with him.
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Hi JoeApril 15, 2005 6:48 PM

Well, I would say that as long as we remain free to drink what we want to, then we keep the feds at bay from being in our homes. I would hate to have Uncle Sam tell me what to drink for goodness sakes! As long as we have education options out there, it really is our choice to do or not to do. If we get fat and die early, that really is on us and no one else.
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Anyway, it isn't really any of your business how much coke somebody else drinks.

Not per se... and since I don't have beverage enforcement powers, my opinion is pretty harmless regarding other people's personal drink choice, eh? Eh. Oh, except when other people's choices affect the cost of my healthcare. We had this discussion back on Food Porn.

Down here in Arizona there is a pending legal measure that will ban junk food sales in schools. Normally, I'd say you'd be right to complain that this is gov't meddling in personal choices. However, government is sadly needed to fight corporate interests promoting those unhealthy choices at the expense of the greater public good (health). Unfortunately, it is increasingly my business what other people drink, to some extent. We regulate alcohol; that's a personal beverage choice... are drunk driving and disorderly behavior now OK in your book, JW, or are the negative health effects of soda (obesity) just not visible to you yet?

If you are prone to fibrocystic disease this plays havoc on you, too. Most of the so called decaffinated products still contain trace amounts ogf caffiene, so if you are a breast cancer survivor its just a good idea to stay away.
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The name for Coca-cola came from two of its main ingredients... the coca plant extracts (the same plant that gives us cocaine) and the cola nut, which imparts the caffeine into the drink. Yes, it was originally sold as a tonic, to cure headaches, in the south, before it hit as a "soft drink.'
It is very true, Americans consume far too much of the substance... there was a time when the average American child drank twice as much milk as he/she did soda... now that stat has more than reversed itself. 1/5 of 1and 2-year olds drink soda now, and the average american teenage boy drinks 21oz of soda a day, which accounts for 9% of his caloric intake. Teenage girls are slightly better, drinking only 12oz daily.
Boycotting Coca-cola, not just for their environmental pracitces, but for the health of this nation, is a good idea. Actually, one not need to post it in a boycott atmostphere, as a lot of people (not in this room, but elsewhere in America) do not support boycotts of any type. They can think about it as a re-adjustment of their health routine... somewhere the Atkins diet has to say something about soda consumption, and since so many people have subscribed to that diet, they can go along and cut coke out of their diet as well.
Good idea, one I've been struggling to achieve for a while. But as it was dutifully said, it is very yummy! So the best of luck to everyone!
J
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It is good for degreasing the engine. It is loaded with sugar and makes you feel thirstier than before you cracked the top.

Their plant in Kerala has polluted the land and the water table and they are totally defensive about their plant. A water sample taken from outside the plant was tested at Exeter University and found to be loaded with heavy metal, cadmium etc. check BBC website, Face the facts, or John Waite.